Original plans for the Ronkonkoma project. (Courtesy of JJL)
Plans for a stadium that could host a USL League One team could go by the wayside.
Developers of the $2.8 billion Midway Crossing air terminal and convention center proposal in Ronkonkoma said they might remove their proposed sports and entertainment venues from their project, Newsday reported in its Saturday editions.
According to Newsday, Suffolk County Legislature members said an agreement had been reached to remove the indoor and outdoor sports and concert arenas following several days of talks with Chicago-based developer JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle).
Midway Crossing, which would be over 179 acres adjacent to the Long Island Railroad station in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., would cost $2.8 billion. The project includes improvements at nearby MacArthur Airport.
“JLL is willing to withdraw the sports and entertainment to allow the legislature to move forward with a positive vote,” John Cameron, the project’s lead engineer, of Cameron Engineering of Woodbury, N.Y., said during a special meeting of the Suffolk Legislature economic development committee in Hauppauge, N.Y., Newsday reported.
There have been questions from the project’s critics whether the venues would be economically viable. Other area venues include UBS Arena (Belmont Park), the Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, N.Y.) and Madison Square Garden (Manhattan), according to the newspaper.
In May 2019, Chicago-based developers announced they had plans to build a sports arena and a soccer stadium near the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station.
In that plan, then known as the Ronkonkoma Vision Project, the developers, Jones Lang LaSalle has decided to cut its original proposal of an indoor arena from 17,500 to 7,500 and a 6,000-seat soccer stadium on the site as part of a $1.1 billion developmental plan, which also includes a convention center, officers and medical facilities.
Now it seems that is a long shot to become reality.
For the entire story in Newsday, visit:
